When you put on the track, Dance of Curse, you're in for a wild ride. The theme is a chorus-based affair that will have you getting goosebumps on all parts of your body. The anime itself is set in medieval times. Instead of fighting it out with swords and shields, humongous robots are used. Yoko Kanno shows her stuff yet again on this our first entry of the top five.

From one show about medieval mechanical fighting robots to another, Brain Powerd (note the missing "e" in Powerd) is a show about Gundam-like robots duking it out for supremacy. The soundtrack itself has a whimsical feel to it, mostly made up of orchestral and symphonic pieces. My favorite of which is Power of the Light as shown in the examples.

Gravity is one of Yoko Kanno's most popular themes, and for good reason-- it's a wholly beautiful piece performed by Maaya Sakamoto. There's a slew of wonderful pieces to be mentioned, but I could only choose three to represent the soundtrack as a whole. From Run, Wolf Warrior, Run to Cloud 9, there's something for everybody in the Wolf's Rain score.

In the all digital world of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, ghosts can switch in and out between bodies or shells with a simple link-up. The music is heavily computerized featuring excellent rock riffs, ballads, and jazz pieces. As you can hear from the three examples provided, there's plenty of variety in the GitS soundtrack.

My first run-in with Yoko Kanno's music was Cowboy Bebop, but that's not the reason this soundtrack is number one. It flawlessly mixes a multitude of genres and styles for one essential soundtrack. There's the token jazz, but there's also funk, heavy metal, country, blues, rock, pop, and much more.